[Quote No.31950] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "The Power of Negative Visualization [Imagining how things could be worse so you can be grateful they aren't!]:
When Norman Vincent Peale wrote 'The Power of Positive Thinking' 60 years ago, he received a stack of rejection slips from publishers.
Dejected, he threw the manuscript into the trash, forbidding his wife to remove it. She didn't.
The next day, however, she took the manuscript, still inside the wastebasket, to a publisher who accepted it. The book became a foundation of the human potential movement, selling more than 20 million copies in 47 languages.
Much of Peale's homespun advice sounds quaint or even amusing to us today. Still, the book did a good job of articulating a basic truth:
To a great extent, you create your world with your thoughts [imagination]. Most personal achievements begin with an abiding faith that we can and will accomplish them.
Even realizing your goals, however, will not lead to lasting satisfaction. That's because human wants are insatiable.
Most of us are trapped on what psychologists call the hedonic treadmill. We work to achieve what we desire. Those things satisfy us for a while, but we soon adapt to them and dissatisfaction returns. So next time, we set the bar a little higher...
Our lives can easily become a pastiche of unfulfilled desires. We yearn for a better-paying job, more recognition, greater social status, a newer car, a bigger house, a firmer abdomen, perhaps even a sexier spouse.
Dissatisfaction is not all bad, of course. Desire can motivate us to achieve good things in our lives, too.
But a continual sense of lack creates anxiety. It undermines our satisfaction. Peace of mind eludes us.
Fortunately, the ancient Stoic philosophers had a technique you can use to override the adaptation process and recapture the contentment we seek. It's called negative visualization.
The technique is to spend some time each day imagining that you have lost the things you value most [that things could be worse]. Vividly imagine, for example, that your job has just been terminated, that your house - with all your possessions - has burned to the ground, that your partner has left you, or that you have lost your sight, your hearing, or the use of your limbs.
This sounds horribly bleak, I know. But the Stoics were onto something here. They understood that everything we enjoy in life is simply 'on loan' to us from Fortune. Any of it - all of it - can be recalled without a moment's notice.
Epictetus reminds us, for example, that our children have been given to us 'for the present, not inseparably nor forever.' His advice: In the very act of kissing your child, silently reflect on the possibility that she could die tomorrow.
The Roman philosopher Seneca advises us to live each day as if it were our last, indeed as if this very moment were our last. He's not suggesting that you drop your responsibilities and squander the day in frivolous or hedonistic activities. He's encouraging you to change your state of mind.
Maybe you are already living the dream you once had for yourself.
Along the way, however, you became jaded, bored, numb to the blessings that surround you. The goal of the Stoics would be to wake you up, to make you appreciate [and be grateful for] what you have today.
Some will argue that negative visualization is fine for those who are happy, healthy, and prosperous - but how about the troubled, the less fortunate?
Negative visualization works for them, too. If you have lost your job, imagine losing your possessions. If you have lost your possessions, imagine losing the people you love. If you have lost the people you love, imagine losing your health. If you have lost your health, imagine losing your life.
There is hardly a person alive who could not be worse off. That makes it hard to imagine someone who wouldn't benefit from this technique.
Adaptation diminishes our enjoyment of the world. Negative visualization brings it back.
It also prepares us for life's inevitable setbacks. Survivors of tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, for example, may suffer terribly. Yet afterward, they often tell us that they were just sleepwalking through life before. Now, they are joyously, thankfully alive.
No one should need a catastrophe to feel this way. You can attain the same realization through negative visualization [imagining how things could be worse so you can be grateful they aren't]. Moreover, it can be practiced regularly, so its beneficial effects, unlike a catastrophe, can last indefinitely.
Try it and you'll see. I've found it's perfect for when you're standing in line or stuck in traffic, time that would be wasted otherwise.
By contemplating the impermanence of everything in your world, you can invest all your activities with more intensity, higher significance, greater awareness.
In sum, Norman Vincent Peale got it half-right. Positive visualization [imagining how things could be better] helps you get what you want. Negative visualization [imagining how things could be worse] helps you want [and gratefully enjoy] what you get." - Alex GreenInvestment Director and Chairman of The Oxford Club, and the bestselling author of 'The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters', which explores money, meaning, and the pursuit of the good life.
Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.31990] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of the Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here... [and so it makes sense that we should be grateful for every moment of this privileged experience we call 'life'!]" - Richard DawkinsOxford biologist Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32008] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "So today, begin registering your happy experiences more deeply - consciously looking for them. You can make it into a game. Have the intention to notice everything good that happens to you. Anything you see, feel, taste, hear, or smell that brings you joy. A 'win,' a breakthrough, an 'Aha!' moment, or an expression of your creativity. The list goes on and on.
This intention triggers the reticular activating system (RAS), a group of cells at the base of your brain stem responsible for sorting through the massive amounts of incoming information and bringing anything important to your attention. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly started noticing the same make of car everywhere? It's the RAS at work. Now you can use it to be happier. When you decide to look for the positive, your RAS makes sure that's what you see.
Adelle, one of the Happy 100, told me about a unique method she has for registering the positive. As she goes about her day, she gives away awards in her mind: the best-behaved dog, the most colorful landscape design at a fast-food drive-through, the most courteous driver. This keeps her alert to the beauty and positivity that is all around her. Charmed by the idea, I tried it myself. I liked it so much, I've been giving out these 'Happiness Oscars,' as I call them, ever since.
Once you notice something positive, take a moment to savor it consciously. Take in the good experience deeply and feel it. Make it more than just a mental observation. If possible, spend about 30 seconds soaking up the happiness you feel. If you want to accelerate your progress, take time every day to write down a few of your wins, breakthroughs, and things you appreciate about others - and about yourself.
You'll know you've mastered this when you can give yourself an Academy Award for outstanding achievement in true happiness!" - Marci ShimoffAuthor of the New York Times bestseller, 'Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy From the Inside Out', which offers a revolutionary approach to experiencing deep and lasting happiness.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32042] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "The economy is in the toilet, the boss is breathing down your neck, and you have a stack of bills to pay. You're worried about healthcare reform, tax reform - and God knows what else. Sometimes life is like that. We feel overworked and underpaid, and the stress takes a toll on our health and happiness.
What can we do to alleviate the stress? The answer is to live with an attitude of gratitude.
When you arise in the morning, be grateful to be alive, be grateful for your health, for your children and grandchildren. Be grateful for the country you live in, for the friends you have, and the family you enjoy. Literally count your blessings every day.
Three amazing things will happen. The first is that you will actually become more grateful. You will start to realize that, despite the trials of everyday life, you are, in fact, blessed. The irony is that the more things you realize you have to be grateful for, the more grateful you become for other things. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill. The gratitude becomes overwhelming.
The second thing that will happen is that more good fortune and opportunities will begin to come your way. I don't pretend to understand why this happens, I just know it does. Those who are grateful just seem to attract more and more good things.
And the third thing that will happen is that you will feel great - healthier and more energetic than you have in years!
The stressors in our life are not likely to go away. What we need to do is learn to control our response to them by living with an attitude of gratitude. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn has often said, 'The same wind blows on us all; it is the set of our sail that makes us who we are.'" - Dr. Tim ReynoldsHe is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, managing partner of Healthcare Express and the chief medical officer of Urgent Care America, as well as a much sought-after health and lifestyle speaker.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32067] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "[It has been said that most unhappy people simply expect too much from life, thus setting themselves up for disappointment when it fails to deliver the endless happiness they envisioned when we were young.
Nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer summed up this discouraging reality when he wrote:]
There is only one inborn error, and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy. ... So long as we persist in this inborn error... the world seems to us full of contradictions. For at every step, in great things and small, we are bound to experience that the world and life are certainly not arranged for the purpose of maintaining a happy existence... hence the countenances of almost all elderly persons wear the expression of what is called disappointment.
[This would suggest that people should lower their expectations and try for less. This seems to ensure a lower level of success and happiness in life. A better mental attitude to develop and maintain is to aim, work and hope for the best in life but to manage the inevitable disappointments by focusing on how things could have been worse rather than better - as all emotions are caused by comparisons. In this way people can be excited about their future and still be happy about their present and past results. It isn't necessarily easy to do, at least at first, but it is worthwhile and much better than the alternatives.]" - Arthur SchopenhauerNineteenth century German philosopher Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32121] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for it. [So if, from perhaps some unhealthy desire for sympathetic support, you describe your life in negative terms you will find that this will reinforce your mind's negative emotions and make you unhappy and even more susceptible to feeling unhappy in the future. By simply doing the reverse and focusing on why you are lucky and grateful things are not worse, you will strengthen and increase your mind's positive emotions and make yourself happy and even more likely to feel happy in the future.]" - Benjamin Lee WhorfAuthor's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32147] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "It hit me like a ton of bricks.
I couldn't believe I'd missed it before. I'd read the book many, many times - but this time was different. A secret was revealed to me - and today I'm going to give it to you.
If you are open and receptive to what you are about to read, you can expect a major breakthrough.
Here it is: 'Psychologist David Seabury says that the best piece of advice his father ever gave him was to practice positive mental imagery - immediately and 'on cue,' so to speak, whenever he became aware of negative feelings. Negative feelings literally defeated themselves by becoming a sort of 'bell' which set off a conditioned reflex to arouse positive states of mind.'
Now read that passage again. It comes from the 35-million-copy bestseller, 'Psycho-Cybernetics'. Pay particular attention to the words 'the best piece of advice his father ever gave him.' Why? Because whenever something is 'the best piece of advice' someone can give you - especially your father - you know it's got to be good.
In reading this passage, I not only see it as the best advice I can give my son - but myself, and everyone I teach at my seminars and in my coaching programs...
Every time you feel a negative emotion, you sound the alarm in your head. 'Uh, oh. Not good. Change the mental picture to a positive one.' You do this over and over, and before long the feel-bad vibe lasts less than a second and you're back to feeling good." - Matt FureyInternationally recognized expert in self-development, fitness, and martial arts, and president of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32604] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "We shall get more contentedness from the presence of
all these blessings if we fancy them as absent, and remember from time to time how people when ill yearn for health, and people in war for peace, and strangers and unknown in a great city for reputation and friends, and how painful it is to be deprived of all these when one has once had them. For then each of these blessings will not appear to us only great and valuable when it is lost, and of no value when we have it.... And yet it makes much for contentedness of mind to look for the most part at home and to our own condition; or if not, to look at the case of people worse off than ourselves, and not, as people do, to compare ourselves with those who are better off.... But you will find others, Chians, or Galatians, or Bithynians, not content with the share of glory or power they have among their fellow-citizens, but weeping because they do not wear senators' shoes; or, if they have them, that they cannot be praetors of Rome; or if they get that office, that they are not consuls; or if they are consuls, that they are only proclaimed second and not first.... Whenever, then, you admire any one carried by in his litter as a greater man than yourself, lower your eyes and look at those that bear the litter." - Plutarch(46 - 120), Greek biographer, historian, essayist, and moralist.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32834] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "The happiest is he who suffers [or rather perceives] the least pain; the most miserable, he who enjoys [or rather perceives] the least pleasure. [Therefore perception is vital and because perception is based on perspective the individual's subjective comparisons make all the difference to how the experiences are perceived and therefore the feelings they invoke. Therefore comparing experiences with things that are better will cause pain, bitterness and envy, while comparing the same experiences with things that are worse will cause pleasure, gratitude and pride. This knowledge helps individuals to realize how they create their own feelings and therefore have the power to manage their emotions by managing their comparisons, regardless of the circumstances.]" - Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712 - 1778), Swiss political philosopher, educationist and essayist.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.32924] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "A group of tourists sits in a bus that is passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who will be well considered. And so they remain till the journey's end. [Too many of us are like those tourists, engaged in petty power struggles while the true beauty of life lies all round us, unobserved and unappreciated.]" - Anthony de Mellopsychotherapist and Jesuit priest.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image